HUNTSVILLE, Texas - Texas death row inmate Christopher Wilkins is about to become the first prisoner executed in the nation this year.

But the 48-year-old man's attorneys are trying to stop Wednesday evening's scheduled lethal injection.

They've appealed the case to the U.S. Supreme Court, arguing that Wilkins had poor legal help at his trial.

He was convicted of a 2005 double slaying in Fort Worth that stemmed from a $20 drug deal.